The Road Less Taken
by AmyCan
Summary: Korra snuck into the pro bending arena, but instead of Bolin she met Tahno.
1. The Arena Less Heavily Gaurded

With a swoosh Tahno's bangs were put back in their place. He carried his despised helmet under one arm. The thing seemed determined to ruin the 'do he'd spent hours to perfect in the morning, but he had eventually discovered how to take it off just so so that it didn't disturb his shiny hair.

Tahno walked confidently, every piece of his brown wolfbats uniform in place. He knew the halls of the pro building arena well and rarely looked where he was going, instead his eyes stared out over the dark waters of Yue Bay. They glittered and reflected the lights of Republic City well.

He was nearing the wolfbats' locker room when he ran into something - something strong. His hand instinctively flew to his hair, "What do you-" Tahno stopped mid sentence and found himself looking into a pair of deep azure eyes.

His demeanor immediately changed, "Actually it's fine, in fact today is your lucky day." His lips curled into a smirk and immediately those blue eyes narrowed. The figure took a step back allowing him to get a good look at her. The girl was shorter than he, and curvy. She was different from most Republic City girls, but in a good way. He liked them exotic.

Korra looked over the man she had just bumped into, thankful he hadn't realized who she was or that she wasn't supposed to be there. "Is that so," she said, putting a hand on a hip and looking over the flippy-hair guy.

He was pale and cocky, just begging to be put in his place. "Indeed, I will forgive you AND let you come hang out with us before the match."

Korra pretended to consider this and after a moment gave a fake sigh and said, "I think I can squeeze you in."

She saw a flicker of surprise in his eyes for just a moment before his lips formed another one of those little smirks and he began to walk, "Let's go." He was quickly followed by his teammates, who Korra realized had not said one thing the entire time.

Tahno was happy to have found his girl so soon. Typically they didn't come searching for him so soon. He didn't believe her act for one minute. She was obviously a fan who wanted to meet him, and he was certainly happy to oblige as long as he got what he wanted later. He led her and his teammates into the locker room and sat down on the bench, gesturing for her to join him. "Silly me, I just realized I didn't catch your name." He said, innocently.

She hesitated slightly before responding, "It's Korra. And yours?" Korra. Why did that name ring a bell? Tahno knew he had heard it someplace before, but he couldn't quite place it. What further bothered him was the fact she didn't know who he was. He doubted anyone in that place didn't know his name. This girl was obviously a very good actor.

"I'm Tahno, and that's Ming and Shaozu," he said, gesturing towards his teammates who simply scowled at him. "They're not very friendly," he stage whispered.

A bang on the door and a shout told him they had only a few minutes before he was due in the arena. He stood up and winked at her before turning to Ming and Shaozu to discuss battle strategy.

Korra's excitement was just building. She was moments away from seeing her first pro bending match. Tahno, Ming, and Shaozu were huddled together in the corner, so Korra took the opportunity to really look around. One side of the room was left open, offering Korra a view of the arena. In the center was a massive platform split into several sections with barriers on two sides. Surrounding it was a moat of water several feet below. The arena was ringed with stands which were completely filled with spectators. The whole place roared with the sound of talking. It took the announcer several minutes to quiet down the room in order to introduce the competitors.

The wolfbats took that as their cue and headed out. Just before leaving Tahno turned to her doing another of those hair flips and saying, "You get front row seats to the best player in the place," and then they were gone.

Tahno held up his arms and turned in a circle, observing the cheering spectators and feeling content with his solid performance. Ming and Shaozu had already stepped on the elevator that would take them back to their locker room, but Tahno wasn't quite ready. After a few more minutes of basking in his glory Tahno finally joined his teammates in heading back to the wolfbats' locker room.

When they finally arrived they found Korra looking content, "that was pretty good," She said, a slight smile on her face.

Tahno's smirk faltered slightly, "please, I'm the best."

Korra eyed him warily, but said nothing. "I don't know, I could do better."

Tahno was slightly surprised, it hadn't really occurred to him that she might be a bender, or that she might challenge his skill, but he was confident in his abilities. "I doubt that, but perhaps I could give you some private lessons."

"I'm good," she said with a flourish. Tahno's smirk disappeared completely. It was unusual for him to be rejected, especially by fangirls - bender or no.

"Perhaps you ought to watch yourself, girl." He said, with a sneer. Korra's expression visibly darkened, "What kind of sexist jerk-" She never finished her sentence. The door burst open and standing in the frame was Tenzin.

"Korra! What are you doing here? I told you no. This is just a silly distraction from your avatar training!"

Wait a minute. _Avatar_?

Tahno rounded on Korra, staring at her through narrowed eyes. "_You're_ the avatar?!"

Korra didn't even bother to look sheepish, "Yeah, and you're a sexist arrogant jerk."

Tahno was dumbfounded as she stood up and walked over to Tenzin, "I've seen all I need. Let's go."


	2. The Noodlery Less Visited

**Author's Notes**

Just a short chapter for all of you. This one's pretty quick, but hopefully it's a good gateway for the rest of this arc.

Musical Inspiration: **On Top of the World** by Imagine Dragons (if that counts as inspiration, I've just been listening to it a lot)

* * *

Korra's hips rocked back and forth to keep her balance with Naga's sway. The polar bear dog walked quickly with her nose in the air, nostrils slightly flared and searching for the scent of danger (or perhaps food.) They walked along the streets of one of Republic City's open air markets. Vendors and merchants lined the streets and people bustled about, doing their Saturday shopping. Naga gained a few curious glances, but no one said anything to Korra and for that she was grateful.

The sight of a traditional noodlery serving old-style water tribe food set Korra's mouth watering and she quickly dismounted, commanding her dog to sit and hastily apologizing when the massive animal squashed a cart ("My cabbages!")

Shoving her way inside, Korra made her way to the counter and found herself face to face with a man who's nametag read Narook. She ordered her favorite comfort food and it was quickly given to her. She inhaled the pungent odor deeply and carried the steaming bowl to a side table in the dimly lit diner. With a woosh her chopsticks made their way into the bowl and immediately pulled out a hunk of seal. It must've been imported (no wonder there was such a hefty fee), Korra grinned at the sight of the gray blob and immediately shoveled it into her mouth.

"That's not a ladylike way to eat," said a strange voice.

Korra turned slowly to see who it was and let out a surprised "Ming!" when she saw who it was.

"In the flesh," he said, smiling for the first time she had ever seen. "Sorry I was so cold at the arena, Tahno's girls can get on me on my bad side, I had no idea you were the avatar."

Korra quickly swallowed the piece of meat she had been working on and smiled to let him know that she accepted his apology. "No worries, Tahno was keeping me busy anyway."

Ming smiled apologetically, "sorry about him too, he can be-"

"an asshole?" Korra cut him off.

"I was going to say a sleaze, but that works too," said Ming with an amused smile.

"The match was great, by the way that was some very well executed earthbending out there."

"That was nothing compared to my firebending!" Ming didn't look surprised, but Korra nearly jumped at the sound of yet another unfamiliar voice. When she turned she saw that its owner was Shaozu, carrying his own steaming bowl of something that smelled suspiciously of fermented fish sauce.

"Two in one. I was beginning to think you were both mute last week!" Korra said, happy to see that they were not quite as cold as she thought. Then her expressions turned serious, "Tahno isn't going to pop out of the woodwork is he?"

"No, but-" Ming stopped talking and suddenly looked very annoyed, his eyes locked on something behind Korra. She turned to see what it was and her eyes fell on someone ordering something at the counter. From the back all she could see was his dark hair and well muscled arms.

"Who's that?" she said, turning her questioning gaze onto Ming, who finally wrenched his eyes away from the tall dark (and might she say handsome) figure.

"Just one of our competitors, Mako."

"Then why do you hate him?" she questioned, wary of his angry expression.

"I don't hate him! I just dislike him. He's this brooding rookie who thinks he's all that!"

Korra raised an eyebrow, "Sounds like a certain teammate I happen to know of."

"Tahno's a jerk, but for a good reason. That Mako kid needs to be put in his place."

Korra was silent as she watched Mako mount a motorcycle. From her new angle she could see that he had a tattered red scarf wrapped around his neck. He didn't really look like the type who was trying to make some sort of fashion statement, but it was hard to tell. In moments he was gone and Korra turned her attention back to Ming, who still looked slightly harried, and Shaozu, who was slurping down a bowl of noddles.

"He doesn't seem that bad..." she tried halfheartedly. All she got was a snort of disgust from Ming


	3. The Lesson Less Private

**Author's Notes**

So this is a bit of a celebratory chapter because I just finished the last of my first semester finals! I've gotten a few good reviews thus far, which are very encouraging. I just wanted to say it would be awesome to get a little _constructive_criticism, just so I can kind of see what needs to be improved and where I should go from here. :)

Anyway, this is still pretty much exposition, but we're getting there. My song for this one is Everything has Changed by Taylor Swift, and you'll see why.

* * *

UGH! Korra grunted as she blasted several fists of air towards the airbending gates before gently rubbing the tender bump forming on her head. She'd spent several moments trying to force her way through the spinning demons before coming out the way she came to face Tenzin's frustrated expression.

"You can't force it Korra! Why don't you just listen to me?" He said, his voice louder than usual. Korra ran her hands through her hair which had fallen out of its typical ponytail from the wind and the spiraling gates. It hung loosely about her shoulders in a bedraggled sort of way. _It pretty much reflects how I feel_, Korra thought.

Tenzin took a deep breath and Korra could just feel another long-winded lecture about meditation or something coming on. Tenzin was like an uncle to her, but sometimes she just wanted to punch a wall and scream obscenities at him about the way he could be so damn condescending and overprotective of her. She really just needed some space so she could breathe. Or maybe a drink, not that he would ever let her leave the island if he thought she was going to visit some bar in Republic City, but she sure could use it.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Huh, oh sorry Tenzin," Korra smiled somewhat sheepishly.

"Korra-" but before he could continue his little speech an abrupt ringing noise resounded throughout the courtyard they had been training in. Tenzin looked furious, "what, exactly, was tha-" He was once again interrupted by the sound.

"That would be my phone," Korra said, leaping to her feet and heading towards the bag she had dropped at the entrance to the space.

"Korra, wait-"

Too late.

"Hello?"

"Korra?"

"Ming! Hey! What's up?"

Tenzin scowled and crossed his arms impatiently. After a few minutes of excited talking Korra cupped her hand over the mouthpiece and whispered to him, "could we cut off practice a little early today?"

Tenzin hesitated slightly, ready to make his resolve clear when she gave him the look. He just couldn't say no to that face and he finally turned away, "Go ahead. But come back if you ever want to master airbending."

Korra's face immediately brightened, "Sure, I can go!" She announced into the receiver, after a few more moments they ended the call and she grabbed her things, "See you later Tenzin!"

.

.

.

.

.  
Korra jumped out of the water of Yue Bay, gently bending the excess moisture off of herself before waving to Ming, who was waiting for her outside the pro bending arena.

"Hey Korra, ready for a rockin' night?" he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Sure, what did you want to do?" she said, ignoring his silly gesture.

"I was thinking I could give you a real tour of the arena, Shaozu will be here to join us in a few,"

"Great!"

"And there's Tahno, too," he said, pointing to Tahno's approaching figure.

Korra's expression visibly darkened when she turned to see Tahno do his little hair flippy thing as he walked up, "Hello, _Aaaah-vatar_." He said, carefully stressing the first syllable of the word in a way that was more infuriating than Korra ever thought the title could be.

"Asshole," she said under her breath, feeling triumphant when Ming snickered behind her, but Tahno looked unimpressed.

Moments later Shaozu arrived, and the trio made their way into the massive but mostly empty arena. Korra was glowering the whole way while Ming and Shaozu joked and Tahno looked aloof. They walked through the hallways, stopping on occasion to show Korra something while Ming and Shaozu narrated. Korra relaxed and even looked pretty excited when they showed her some of the more interesting parts.

"This," Shaozu said opening a door, "is our practice gym." The place was large and filled with various training equipment as well as a good observation balcony.

"This stuff is cool," she said, bending a few of the rock discs into a nearby net.

"How about some private lessons, just for the aah-vatar," Tahno said, lips twisted into a smug smirk.

Korra shot him a look and turned to Shaozu, careful making her voice sound cheeful even though she secretly wanted to leap upon the (devilishly handsome) infuriating Tahno and strangle him, "Private lessons would be great!"

Shaozu looked momentarily confused, but Ming picked up on what she was doing immediately. "Alright, Korra. Let's see what you can do."

"Yes. Let's." Tahno looked downright gleeful.

Moments later they were all in position, Korra on one side of the gym and the wolfbats on the other. They all took their stances and immediately Korra began to bend - always on the offensive the way she liked to be. For a few minutes they sparred, all the while Tahno had this bored expression on his face that made Korra more and more angry by the minutes until she was practically pounding them with bending.

That was when Tahno turned the tables.

Within a matter of mere minutes Korra was put on the defensive, barraged by a series of well-performed water bending moves. At first she was shocked, but her movements quickly adjusted and she was performing beautifully, a look of pure determination on her face. They were no longer just practicing, but involved in something much deeper. It was like a dance executed with such grace that Ming Shaozu could only gape. Korra and Tahno were perfectly in sync, sweat beading on their foreheads. Tahno's hair had even fallen out of shape, but he didn't care. The look in his eye was no longer one of surprise, but of curiousity. Minutes felt like hours, but Korra was dissapointed when they finally finished. The water they had been bending fell into a nearby bucket with a gentle splash and Korra slumped to the floor, exhausted.

She was soon joined by Tahno, who was wiping sweat from his brow, hair mussed back into place. Ming and Shaozu eventually joined them, and for a few moments no one spoke, until finally, a "wow" escaped from Shaozu's lips.

Ming nodded, "That was-"

"Amazing," Korra finished his sentence. The only one who hadn't said anything was Tahno, who looked conflicted.

After they had cooled off, he stood up and bid them farewell, "I have more important things to do than spar with the aah-vatar." And with a flourish and a smirk he was gone. But something had changed, his smirk was less... condesending. Something had changed, but no one noticed but himself.

"Jeez, what a jerk." Korra commented. But this was only met with silence and straight faces from her newfound friends.


End file.
